Showing posts with label Anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anniversary. Show all posts

Monday, September 12, 2016

DESDINOVA'S FAVORITE STAR TREK EPISODES


This September marks the 50th anniversary of the debut of the TV series Star Trek. I came from the generation, who were born after it's initial network run (I was born two months after the last episode aired) and came of age before the other big, sci-fi, pop culture phenomenon, Star Wars.

Here are some of my favorite episodes of the original Star Trek.


1. "This Side of Paradise" - Captain Kirk and the landing crew are supposed to evacuate a planet of farmers. The farmers in the colony refuse because they are in a state of bliss. Mr. Spock is sprayed by the spores of a plant, which cause him to fall in love with a beautiful, blonde, female scientist, played by Jill Ireland. This leads to always serious Spock hanging upside down from a tree. Soon everyone is sprayed with the spores including the crew of the Enterprise. Captain Kirk finds out that the effects of the plant spores can be counter acted by anger. He manages to get Mr. Spock back by insulting him by calling him a "jackrabbit" and saying he belonged in the circus "next to the dogface boy."


2. "Mirror, Mirror" - A transporter malfunction sends Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Uhura to a parallel world, in which the Enterprise is a pirate ship, where the crew members kill and torture each other and Mr. Spock has a cool beard.


3. "Amok Time" - Mr. Spock goes back to Vulcan to marry T'Pring, a girl from his childhood. She wants to marry another guy (that dork in the photo), but can only if Spock is dead. She forces him to fight Captain Kirk to the death. This episode is the first time we learn the Vulcan phrase "Live long and Prosper."


4. "A Piece of the Action" - I seriously believe that Star Trek's production company, Desilu, insisted its shows pay homage to one of its biggest successes, The Untouchables. Mission: Impossible has a 20s gangster story and The Lucy Show had an episode complete with Robert Stack and a narration by Walter Winchell. Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock go to a planet modeled after the 20s gangsters. One of the gangsters is Vic Tayback (Mel from Alice). One of the highlights of this episode is Kirk and Spock trying to drive a car.


5. "Shore Leave" - The crew are on a planet where whatever you are think of suddenly appears. Dr. McCoy sees Alice and the White Rabbit and Capt. Kirk sees a girl he loved and an obnoxious Irish school bully named Finnigan, who wants to fight "Jimmy boy." Finnigan is the second most annoying character from the original Star Trek.


6. "Arena" - Captain Kirk is forced to fight the alligatorish captain of another ship on a desolate planet.


7. "The Trouble With Tribble" - Klingons are bad enough, but the crew has to deal with fuzzy, little balls that eat grain supplies.


8. "Return of the Archons" - A planet filled with mindless, happy people that dress like extras from Little House On the Prairie, except at 5 p.m (The Red Hour), which begins "Festival," when the drink, vandalize property and rape women. Turns out this is the will of Landru and the hooded lawgivers. This episode features the creepiest and most annoying character ever on the show, the overly friendly Bilar (above). "Come for Festival, aye ya? Your daddy can give them a room."


9. "Catspaw" - A story by horror writer Robert Bloch that aired right before Halloween of 1967. The landing crew encounter a warlock, witches (pictured above) and a black cat in an old castle.


10. "Operation: Annihilate" -  Captain Kirk finds his brother dead, sister-in-law hysterical, nephew deathly ill and the citizens of the planet rioting. His sister-in-law screams about the "HORRIBLE THINGS." It is flying jellyfish creatures. One of them stings Mr. Spock. Dr. McCoy needs one to develop an antidote, so Mr. Spock volunteers to go back to the planet and get one. Turns out intense light kills them. Spock volunteers to test the treatment, so Dr. McCoy can save Kirk's nephew. Spock survives but is blind.

I realize I didn't pick the typical choices for favorite episodes, but many list have the same one over and over. I tried to throw in some personal favorites. Hunt these town and check them out if you are not familiar with them. I leave you with this RCA magazine ad featuring Star Trek (click to enlarge).

 

Friday, January 25, 2013

OZARKERS HAVE PUT UP WITH ME FOR 6 YEARS NOW

Yes, it has been six years since started the old blog. We were suffering through an ice storm at the time. I commented on current events in my own satirical manner. After all, I grew up watching people like Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Mark Russell, The Smothers Brothers and the various stars of Laugh-In and  Saturday Night Live make jokes about current events, why couldn't I. I also created a persona of a crazy mad scientist/super-villain. I used every cliched phrase used by super-villains and mad scientist in comic books, movie serials and Saturday morning cartoons. I thought it was funny. Apparently, most Ozarkers didn't watch the same cartoons I did. THEY REALLY BELIEVED I WAS SOME SORT OF TERRORIST PLANING TO TAKE OVER THE COUNTRY!

One of the reasons I stopped allowing comments on the old blog was because of the stupid comments from people who obviously didn't get the joke. The bad part is that many of these people would leave their full names. I really didn't want them to be embarrassed. I would say something like "Soon I make myself emperor of America! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The next day someone would leave a long explanation of why the Constitution wouldn't allow me to be the emperor. Once I said I was going to "Rule the world" and that "every knee will bow to Desdinova!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The next day I had at least two different post from people saying, "I will only bow to the Lord Jesus Christ." That made me feel like dirt. Another post from a guy named Carl said, "As long as I got me a gun I won't be bowing to you. Stupid Lefty!" Comments like these were very bad for my self esteem.

There was also a person at my work, who asked if I could go back to allowing comments, so he could debate me. I said no, "Do you really think it is going to make you look intelligent debating a guy, who calls himself a super-villain and mad scientist, claims to live under Park Central Square and claims to have a giant robot and a death ray?" It made this guy mad, BUT HONESTLY!


The funny thing is, THE SECOND POST I MADE EXPLAINED THE CONCEPT TO PEOPLE!!! Here is what I posted:
"Maybe I should have posted this first. I feel that in this day of silly disclaimers ('Please do not put child in dish washer' or 'Toilet seat should not be used as a flotation device') I should have one too. There are some very litigious individuals out in our world.I am not a real super-villain. I don’t really have a death ray or the ability to throw balls of lightning. I’m not trying to take over the world and enslave people. So don't report me to Homeland Security or Springfield PD. You'd end up looking like an idiot.

I’m just a regular guy with an off beat sense of humor, off beat taste in music and (according to some) off beat political views. I’m really a nice guy if you know me. Very little of what you should read here should be taken seriously. I just like to make jokes about things going on and the folly of others. It is like Oscar Wilde said, "Life is too important to be taken seriously." Ozarks tend to be upset about the wrong things. A few years back a Southern Baptist minister came to the community I grew up. He worked to get the local cable company to drop MTV, tried to get the local newspaper cartoonist fired over a cartoon showing the Southern Baptist lynching Mickey Mouse, and trying to keep grocery stores and restaurants from selling liquor. While all of this was going on there were several unsolved murders, spouse and child abuse increased, hate groups and meth dealers moved in. Eventually people woke up and said, "What happened to our community?" Well, they ignored the real problems while getting upset about things that really didn’t matter.
Getting mad at me won’t do any good. Making a fuss over something I said would be silly, because I’m just being silly myself. Just relax, read and enjoy.
As Red Skelton used to say, "It’s a lot of fun to try and make people laugh because regardless of what your heartache might have been, while laughing for a few seconds you have forgotten about it. I personally believe that each and every one of us put here for a purpose and that is to build and not to destroy. And if by chance someday you’re not feeling well, you should remember some silly little thing that I’ve said or done and it brings back a smile to your face and a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled." (Aren't you glad I didn't quote that highly overrated record he made about the Pledge of Allegiance)." 

WHAT PART OF THAT DID OZARKERS NOT UNDERSTAND??? I have it on good authority that several people called Springfield PD and ask why they were not conducting an investigation into who I was. In another instance, a frantic woman called Springfield PD after reading this post and asked if they were "going to stop Desdinova's robot from stomping on her house." Instead of calling the police, she should have celebrated Kwanzaa (BTW-The robot in the picture is only 6 inches tall. I gave it to my 2 year old great-nephew. He calls it a wo-bot).

You see, my anonymity was a major issue with my critics. I'm not sure what the big deal was. Now that I'm a retro blogger, it is not an issue, because most retro bloggers don't use their real name. I will admit much of the controversy surrounding the old blog came from my making fun of and criticizing talk radio. Especially one former talk radio show host here in Springfield, MO. He made an issue of my existence on his radio show. He also had several fans who started blogs and THEY ALL HATED ME! I even had some co-workers, who liked that guy so much they wanted me fired because I made fun of him. Once he was fired from his job, the old blog was kind of like David Frye after President Nixon resigned or Yakov Smirnoff after the end of Communism. Soon those other blogs disappeared as well. After the demise of the Blog Net News, I had a hard time finding topics. There were a few blogs on that site that I poked fun at calling them "weenie blogs," because they were mainly conservative or libertarian bloggers who seemed to be whining and crying after the 2008 presidential election (Although "weenie" came from the cartoon I posted on the original post - a double entendre).
    
The old blog proved one thing to me: OZARKERS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE OF HUMOR! Besides the people who I were told called the Springfield police about me, you wouldn't believe some of the dumb reactions from the "weenie blogs" over some of my post. One person started a blog a week after mine. This person was upset because in my profile I said that I wanted to "outlaw talk radio and country music." Whoever this would be blogger was only had about three post after that and never posted again. I think most extreme was a blogger here is Springfield, who was so upset that I said Paris Hilton was better looking than Sarah Pailin, that they wrote a post condemning me for that remark that, when I printed it off of my computer, was 30 pages long. GET A LIFE, BUSTER!!! If find it interesting that these bloggers, who hated me so bad that they called me "hateful,""traitor," "unpleasant" and "coward" cannot be found anymore. Most of their "weenie blogs" are gone. Oh, and who can forget the obsessive Dark Knight fan, who said I was "suffering from being a douchebag." 

I'm actually glad I switched to being a retro blog. I don't feel rushed to comment on anything and I get to take time to post about things I want to post about. Feedback can be slow coming, but this time the feedback has been all positive. No death threats.

Even though I stopped updating the old blog on a regular basis, I have left it up for all to see, with the exception of a few post that I removed because they were irrelevant. Last year, I received some positive feedback on something I posted on the old blog in September of 2009. I'm always amazed a how some post are up for along time before I get a response. I was contacted through my Facebook site about a post entitled "THE LEGEND OF SHEBA THE BELLY DANCER." This unusual and rather sad story from Springfield, Missouri's history would make one Hell of a movie. I was contacted by the daughter of "Sheba the Belly Dancer" (That was her stage name. I chose to respect the family's privacy and not mention her real name). She was small when the events took place and didn't understand what exactly happened that lead to her mother's death. She praised my post for filling in the details. She thanked me for showing interest in her mother's story. I guess the original blog served a good purpose even though most of Springfield and the Ozarks hated it.

And that is why I'm still the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

BTW: More people have found the original blog just searching for the "ugly hillbilly boys" photo than they have searching for a particular topic. So why not put it on this blog.
    

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

TWILIGHT ZONE's 53rd ANNIVERSARY

I'm a day behind but yesterday was the 53rd anniversary of the first Twilight Zone episode, "Where Is Everybody" staring Earl Holiman (pictured above).

Friday, May 4, 2012

THE NEW BLOGS FIRST BIRTHDAY

May 6th will mark the first anniversary since I started the New Adventures of Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks. While the support has not been overwhelming, I will say I have had only one negative comment, which wasn't published because it wasn't very coherrent. I have also found out something about doing a retro blog. Response to a post can be very slow. I might post something and not receive a comment until a month or two later. I am trying to build a group of readers, both old and new.

Some in the Springfield area say they miss the vicisous satirical humor of the old blog. Part of my reason for changing was my humor may have upset people that could eventually hire me for a job. I've heard a rumor that I may have been blacklisted by some of the local media outlets. I'm not sure if that will hold water since there is so much turn over in the radio industry these days. Of course, since I hold a media degree, I could always work in TV or newspaper (except the News Leader - I think I've hacked them off).

Another good thing about this switch is that I appeal to people outside the Ozarks. I'm always surprised by the places the visitors to this new sight come from.

For awhile I linking the new post to the old blog. That got to hectic. The only thing I have posted on the old blog recently was another failed April Fools gag. I messed it up and it posted too early (March 31st). However, I will place this post on the old blog as well, I hope that I can get some of the old subscribers and readers to come over here.

Looking at stats I'm surprised at what has been popular and what hasn't been popular. It may have been labeling or something. As I said earlier some post may be around for awhile before they take off. One that is not in the Top 10 but always surprises me when it gets hits is an old Campbell's Soup ad featuring a recipe for an easy hollandaise sauce. After the Countdown to Halloween, I thought I would lead up to Thanksgiving with recipes from old magazines and readers. That idea didn't excite folks but over time that one post has had several hits here and there, because people specifically look for it. Apparently, it was something people remember and that was what I wanted this to be.

I want people to remember pop culture from the past, but still try to respect the curent pop culture. I hated when old timers trash and slamed the things I liked when I was a kid. I'll admit I have been kind of hard on The Waltons here and country music, but that has to do with the culture of the Ozarks and my personal experience. Some have laughed that this new blog have become a repository for obituaries of famous people. Usually I link to another sight on those, because of time contraints. However, I feel they are good drawing cards to the blog and some of them are overlooked by the search engine home pages these day.

Here is the TOP 10 MOST POPULAR POST IN THE FIRST YEAR:
  1. HOW TO WRITE ONE OF THE CURRENT CUT & PASTE COUNTRY SONGS
  2. I STILL DON'T LIKE THE WALTONS
  3. CUTTING LOOSE (AN ODD 70s COMPILATION LP)
  4. BORING BACK TO SCHOOL CLOTHES THAT PHOEBE CATES CAN'T EVEN MAKE SEXY
  5. WHO SHOULD REPLACE CHRISTIAN BALE AS BATMAN?
  6. DESDINOVA'S LIST OF TV GREATEST WESTERNS
  7. LOOKING BACK ON FIVE YEARS OF BLOGGING
  8. SHERWOOD SCHWARTZ OBIT
  9. THE FART HEARD AROUND THE WORLD ON TV
  10. WHO REALLY KILLED JAZZ-HORN ROCK? NOT PRESIDENT NIXON
I'll keep blogging and you keep reading.
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